Blog Tour & Giveaway: Lost Girls by Merrie Destefano

Book Blurb:

Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.

She doesn’t recognize the person she’s become: she’s popular. She wears nothing but black.

Black to cover the blood.

And she can fight.

Tell no one.

She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.

But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And as much as her new life scares her, it calls to her. Seductively. The good girl gone bad, sex, drugs, and raves, and something darker…something she still craves—the rush of the fight, the thrill of the win—something she can’t resist, that might still get her killed…

The only rule is: There are no rules.

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My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Teen--

Rachel wakes up in a ditch with no idea how she got there but knows she needs to escape. After she is found, she learns that she has been missing for the last 2 weeks, but for her the last year of her life is missing. When the FBI are investigating her as well as other missing girls, Rachel tries to place what she knows. But really, she knows nothing, not even who she is anymore or who can be trusted.

I can honestly say that I had no idea what to expect from the book when I picked it up to read, just that it was an interesting sounding mystery, the cover was eye-catching and it had good reviews on Goodreads. Heck, even after starting the book, I had no idea what to expect. Finding the truth is the best part of the story so this review will be shorter than the norm and pretty vague since I don’t want to be spoilery. I can honestly say I did not see what was coming, and this topic was unlike anything I have encountered before making it a unique read.

I liked finding out the truth right along with Rachel, an entire year that she apparently turned into a different person. She was a pretty complex character, completely lost in who she became, and at times overwhelmed by her inner demons. I liked her resolve to get to the truth, even though she was pretty sure she would not like it.

The relationships dynamics Rachel and the side characters were my favorite part of the story. There were literally layers to each interaction be it her new best friend the popular girl she never would have previously spoken to, her old best friend she doesn’t know any more, her dad the war hero who silently knows everything, the strange strung out girl her inner demon screams is the enemy, or the cute poet she always crushed on who happens to now mean more to her. That was just to name a few, but there are so many detailed side characters in the book and how they fit with Rachel was just part of the puzzle. All the characters the author created were interesting and could stand on their own as a person.

The ending was perfect for the story and wrapped up most everything the book dealt with, and it was nice to have a standalone in a world of series. Overall this was a different kind of teen mystery and I think lots of people will enjoy this fast read. I really liked the story and I look forward from more by the author.

I received this title in return for my honest review.

Author Bio:

CURRENTLY A FULL-TIME NOVELIST and magazine editor, Merrie Destefano’s next novel, LOST GIRLS, releases on January 3, 2017. Her other novels include AFTERLIFE and FEAST, both published by HarperCollins, and FATHOM, whichwas self-published. The editor of Victorian Homes magazine, she has also been the editor of American Farmhouse Style, Vintage Gardens, and Zombies magazine, and was the founding editor of Cottages & Bungalows magazine.

With 20 years experience in publishing, she worked for a variety of publishing/broadcasting companies that include Focus on the Family, The Word For Today, and PJS Publications (now Primedia). Besides editing and writing, her background includes print buying, writing/producing radio promos, directing photo shoots, developing new products, writing jacket copy for books, creating sales media packets and organizing direct mail campaigns.

Born in the Midwest, she currently lives in Southern California with her husband, two German shepherds, a Siamese cat and the occasional wandering possum. Her favorite hobbies are reading speculative fiction and watching old Star Trek episodes, and her incurable addiction is writing. She loves to camp in the mountains, walk on the beach, watch old movies, listen to alternative music—although rarely all at the same time.

You can find her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest and her blog

Blog Tour Giveaway:

All prizes listed below will be given to one prize winner.

Prizes listed are for a US winner only; if an International winner is chosen, the prize will be a $50 Amazon gift card.

1 - Kindle Fire Tablet, black: 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, with the Alexa cloud-based voice service—just press and ask.

1 - digital Kindle copy of LOST GIRLS

1 - Pack of 14 vintage-style Swan Lake postcards

1 - pr. Black Swan earrings, handmade by author

1 - "Always" temporary tattoo

a Rafflecopter giveaway You can follow the Tour HERE

Tour provided by Chapter by Chapter